Hey everyone! A new update just dropped! Tokyo Game Show was a great place to see everyone playing the game live, and I got a lot of very useful feedback from it. Here's a big patch I've been working on to implement them in the demo:
Gunplay Overhaul
A major focus of this update is to improve on the gunplay of the game. Thanks to everyone’s feedback, I have made some substantial changes to reloading, aiming and the Surge mechanic.
Refilling the ammo belt is now faster and snappier, and it is possible to directly reload from the bag if the belt runs out of ammo. Of course, it is much faster to grab a new clip from your belt than reaching all the way into your backpack, so I’d still recommend you to keep that ammo belt loaded at all times.
Surge Window is now overhauled into Surge Reload. It happens during reloading and if you pass the skill check, then your next bullets reloaded from the belt will be boosted!
This one is for the controller players. Instead of a crosshair, aiming with a gamepad is now done with a laser pointer to give you a better feel of the path and range of your shots.
For those who want to test your weapons before venturing into the wild, here’s a training dummy for you to experiment your entire arsenal on. Unload your guns into this unbreakable target with impunity!
Visual Refresh
Several visual changes also made their way into the demo. For example, some of the merchants are given their own tents, improving their quality of life in the post-apocalypse. Also, the boss now spawns with a cooler animation to aura-farm a bit before crushing your defences (or getting crushed).
Manual Replay
Need a reminder on certain controls or mechanics? You can now load up the game manual during pause to get a refresher!
Settings, UI and More
The update also comes with a myriad of rebalancing, settings and UI improvements, bug fixes and other important changes. See below for the full details!
Update Full Patch Notes:
Smoothened mechanics
Reloading can now be done straight from the bag if the belt is empty. Reloading is faster from the belt.
Refilling the belt is now faster and snappier
Surge Window has been reworked and simplified into Surge Reload - Boost your next bullets while reloading from the belt by with an input in the correct timing!
Gamepad aim reworked! Laser pointer implemented with dynamic display.
Interacting with structures and moving away from them doesn’t cancel the interaction anymore
New Content :
Added a Dummy in the HUB to play around with
Visual Updates
Added a perspective effect to the water
Merchants now have a tent in the hub!
Improved boss spawn sequence
Background fence in player camp now changes when upgrading tent.
Changed wild emberlings tents look
Sound
Menu and HUB music have been changed with music originally composed for the game
Settings, inputs:
Changed controller inputs: reload to square, interact to A, dodge to circle and call dog to triangle
Water reflection quality setting
Zoom level can now be changed
Master & Dog audio sliders
Added Maximized window mode
Added 3 UI Display mode: Adaptive (default) - Persistent (all UI elements are always displayed) - Essentials (Backpack is always displayed)
Game Manual
Added manual replays in the pause menu
QOL
Stamina bar implemented
E to interact on NPCs
Whistle SFX now triggers on Dog Stay state command
Ammo crafter now plays a sound when ammo finished crafting
Added an arrow indicator over the player showing the direction to go when entering an area where there's doubt on where to go.
UI Improvements on the merchants: Level is now positioned at the top right corner, structure level upgrades are now indicated with roman numbers, changed the outline of "buyable" items to yellow and "not buyable because not enough gems" color to red. Also, items with not enough gems show the missing gems in red now.
Improved navigation feedbacks when selecting weapons and weapon names are now displayed
Skill icons at the bottom left of the screen are now hoverable even without the tab menu open
Added button prompt "Collect Ammo” when ammo is crafted
Pressing interact input now also skips tip/resumes game
Prompt "E" icon to climb over tower
Balancing
Recover faster stamina when standing still (2.3x → 3x)
Localization
Chinese
Bugfixes :
Fixed shots randomly dealing no damage to enemies.
Disabled controller vibrations when not using controller
When cancelling ember extraction, fuel used during extraction is now refunded (fixed John's die in tutorial problem)
Fixed menu navigation with controller skipping “Back to hub” option
When talking to an NPC in a level, interaction is now cancelled when taking dmg
Fixed reticle size inconsistency when switching between mouse/controller
When talking to an NPC in a level, interaction is now cancelled when taking dmg
When talking to the gem merchant for the first time, disabled shop opening until gems are dropped in the chest
Fixed a bug where the hub chest opening sound would trigger each time you collected a gem that fell to the ground
Fixed “Critical Fuel” not translated
Fixed tutorial emberlings outside the playable area and not dropping orbs bug